Broken Wings
by SydneyFreeSpirit27
Summary: "You never truly know what you have... until you have lost it forever..."
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Mortal Kombat nor the MK characters. No flames and R&R! **

**Warning: In some of the chapters some of the MK characters might seem slightly OCC, but hey nobody's perfect. **

**On with the story. :)**

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><p><em><strong>Chapter 1<strong>_

** In a small school, inside an even smaller classroom sat an entire class of about twenty seven to twenty eight high school students trying, so very hard not to fall asleep as the chestnut/blond haired teacher kept on babbling and rambling the history of how the Pearl Harbor was attacked by The Imperial Japanese Navy as a surprise military strike. It wasn't that boring… it had to do with the fact that this was the class right before lunch. Not to mention that since this was a school for 'Gifted' they had to come at 7:30am only to get out at 4:30pm. So they were exhausted, hungry, sleepy, tired and adding history to the mix didn't quite sound the best of all results. Already half of the class had their heads glued to their wooden desks in a deep slumber, while the other half was trying very hard not to end up in the same crumbled heap of drowsiness. **

** Everybody was clad in the normal blue and gray uniform. The boy's clothes consisted of gray dress pants with black shoes, a light blue polo with small white and gray lines on the collar and the end of the sleeves. On the left sleeve was the insignia of the school with its name imprinted on it. The girl's was a gray jumpsuit with a long skirt, the same polo as the boy's underneath and black school shoes with either gray, white or light blue socks. Every single student was clad in these except for one single girl in the chair of the last left row. Said girl had dark blue sweat pants with the name of the school sewed on the right leg in a vertical fashion. A light blue T-shirt with the same logo the others had only that it was on the left side of her chest. Black converse completed the look of the physical education uniform.**

** She had her arms crossed across her chest, leaning backwards and legs resting upon the same wooden desk her companions were now using as pillows. She wasn't really paying attention to class either as she kept on spacing off because of her small epileptic attacks-these consisted on the person that had it to usually not be very aware of their surroundings, walking in a confused or lost manner, staring into space for at list ten seconds and quickly snapping out of it, picking at clothes or any object close and chewing or making smacking sounds with the lips. **

**It was pure luck that this hadn't developed into full blown convulsions and panic attacks just like the ones her grand-grandmother had – which she at list expected that was where it had come from. She didn't like this very much as it got in her way of her studies at times that concentration was needed and sometimes people would stare at her as if she were the weirdest being… in the school at list. Even though she hid it very well since it wasn't as bad to control as the convulsing epilepsy, there were still one or two persons here and there that would notice and stop to either ask if she was okay or ask if she was retarded. It would depend on what kind of person it was, like maybe a teacher and a cheerleader. The teacher would be concerned for you while the cheerleader would laugh in your face and pass by you as if you were dirt on the way of the expensive snappy heels. **

_ 'Crud… I did it again…'_** she thought to herself as she mentally slapped herself to awaken the unconscious part of her brain. In other words: She Had Spaced Off Again. It made her feel ashamed of herself, not to mention very idiotic. **

** Her friends were always the ones on the top of the class while she was scrapping the ends with a rock heavy on her shoulders. It gave her stress, pressure and anger. Stress because no matter what she did she always ended last on everything and always got either B's, C's or even at some moments D's and an F in math. Pressure because wherever she went everybody was always telling how she was far behind, how she needed to catch up with everybody, how dumb her answers and solutions had been and of course peer pressure whenever it came to things like **_'If everybody finishes on time you get 5 points bonus for your next test'_** or **_'If even one of you is not finished I will send you out 10 minutes late'_**. Anger because these causes quickly got mixed up with social and emotional problems sending her completely off edge. **

** She did not get out of school because one: Mom and Dad would be disappointed that their oldest daughter got out of a specialized school on math and science, two: She had her BFFF's here, three: She loves the art class Mr. Cruz gives, and four: It's very close to her house and therefore less money is spent on driving her here - the economy is getting so bad nowadays. **_'God why am I always so stupid and useless?' _

** Glancing to the window she put her chin on her palm as she started making out random figures in the clouds – a very strange habit she had picked up from God knows where. **_'Mmhmm… why do the clouds always look like that? I mean people say that they're practically like gas but… could you actually feel them if you touched them, would they maybe feel wetter if they were gray? Perhaps they would I mean how do people even know that? Have any of them managed to have one in their palm? I'm pretty sure they just inquire that they're like that. Logic. Yeah that's probably it… I mean what if th –'_

"… **Miss Blake?" **

"**Huh? What?" she asked feeling as her face heated and her eyes burned from embarrassment. The teacher had probably asked her a question and she hadn't been paying attention the whole time. **

** She saw how all the students snickered and some started laughing as even the teacher seemed tolerant and started giggling slightly to hold in the laughter that was probably building up deep within her chest and threatening to come out her mouth any second now. She in turn felt a bit relieved as nobody was judging her in any way and smiled sheepishly which only caused everybody to laugh even more. "I'm sorry… uh… c-could you maybe… repeat the question?" she said in a low voice.**

"**I asked: "Who were the ones that attacked the Pearl Harbor?" she repeated but this time it sounded more like a statement.**

"**The Japanese Navy…" she said sounding unsure.**

"**Mmmhm, you're off the hook for this one just because you were PARTIALLY listening." She said waving her pointer finger at me and all she could do was smile again the goofy smile which actually represented how embarrassed she truly felt.**

_'Oh… by the Elder Gods I swear I want to die so badly right now… to get rid of this horrible boredom…'_** she brightened somewhat as she thought of going back home in the evening to play her favorite game: Mortal Kombat. She had always loved it even if it had so much blood and gore because she knew that it wasn't real. So yeah technically it did not affect her as much as it did to her friends. **

** Actually when it came to fiction-like things she didn't give a heck but when it came to things that happened in real life – violations, murdering, raping, mutilation, drugs, alcohol, animals getting killed, suicide… etc – she was far more than sensitive. That was why everybody watched the news but her. Claire and Carmen- her best friends – were always rubbing it in her face and telling her about how she needed to live more in the real world and less in her head having strange fantasies. Mostly because she loved movies while they gave critics about them. **_'Sure I have to admit I do that too but not as much as they did.'_

** Claire would always call her the Kznator – K for Mortal Kombat and znator as an add – but she didn't mind that. It was like when Carmen would call her Bumblebee because of her small obsession over Bumblebee from Transformers – the movie in her opinion was far more than amazing. Even though they knew about the game it was only because she talked so much about it when she was with them. Because honestly they did not knew crap about it compared to her who knew most of the characters and most of their life stories. She even had a list of her most favorites and her least favorites: **

_**Favorites:**_

**-Scorpion**

**-Ermac **

**-Sub-Zero**

**-Smoke**

**-Onaga**

_**Least Favorites:**_

**-Reptile **

**-Shang Tsung**

**-Kano **

**-Baraka**

**-Kobra **

** So yeah she was a 'fan' if you could call it that. She started staring into space again and this lasted for about 30 seconds until she snapped out of her trance and silently whined. Spacing off – as she had mentioned before – was not something she was very fond of. She imagined herself in the middle of a volleyball game and suddenly losing consciousness temporarily… which had actually happened before and not ended pretty. The ball had hit her square on the face, causing her to lose balance – she was vey clumsy at times – and thus falling on her rear. Since it had hit her on the nose the automatic reaction of her eyes was to leak with crystal tears. It had been a very humiliating experience and therefore she had gained more concentration since then – **

** RRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGG! **

** She literally jumped in her seat at the corrupting yet so very nice sound of the bell indicating that it was time for lunch… good riddance history, hello sweet hot dogs…**

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><p><em><strong>"Parking Lot of School"<strong>_

**~4:55pm~**

"**CHARLYYYY! COME ON GIRL YOU'RE SLOWER THAN A SNAIL ON A LADDER!" yelled out a slightly chubby, blonde/chestnut haired girl at a black haired much skinnier girl.**

"**All right, all right… I'm just lazy cuz you know that if I wanted to I would've been back home by now…" murmured tiredly and somewhat shyly, Charly – the black haired one. '**_See? This is what I mean. Claire and Liz are always far much more hyper and stand up for themselves unlike me who always spaces off because of the dumb epilepsy…'_

"**Hey! Are you even listening to me?" Claire started waving her hands in front of Charly's framed face – by her black bags. She lazily slapped the hand away.**

"**Of course I was…" she said lowly and a bit distractedly.**

"**Oh, really? Then what was I saying just now?" Claire countered putting her hands on her hips and putting on a knowing, obnoxious smirk showing off her purple braces. **

"**You were saying that… you love me and you are so very anxious for… something… about s-s-something that I can't r-really remember…" she silently cursed for stuttering but she always got nervous when it came to interrogations or oral reports – aka she had a phobia for talking in public - even the stupid ones she received from her blond friend. Speaking of which she saw her sigh and repeat what had previously said.**

"**I said that we still need to wait for Carmen therefore we can do our math homework so that we don't have to – hey! What… do you… think you're doing?" Claire could only stare dumbly as Charly walked over to a rusty, old bench. Throwing her black backpack covered with skull that had either X's, circles or hearts in the place of its eyes, nonchalantly on the ground beside it and sitting on it. That wasn't what surprised Claire of course, it was the fact that she got out of her backpack a rainbow beanie, covering her face with it and laying down completely outstretched on the brown seat as if it was her bed, in her house. Her left leg was lifted upwards and over the top side of the bench while the other one was left straight. **

"**Sleeping." Was her short and quiet response.**

"**Get your lazy bum out of that bench it looks like it's really dirty." Claire replied making her face turn to one of pure disgust and making a small 'ew' sound.**

** Charly had already dozed off however and she probably would've had a much deserved nap if Claire hadn't been shaking her crazily with not five minutes after she had closed her eyes.**

"**Charly! Charly wake up! Hurry! I think someone's here." Claire hissed/whispered practically in her face.**

"**What? Oh Clay you're probably just paranoid." She said as she stood up and stretched putting on her beanie and standing up as she looked around her and then at her watch. **

** She nearly freaked out when she saw how late it was. Her black and red watch read 7:05pm.**

"**OhmyGod!" she squeaked out as her brown eyes widened.**

"**What? What? What?" Claire yelled frantically trying to get Charly's attention.**

"**It's already seven! Carmen never came!" she yelled a bit more loudly than she had expected – hence she practically never yelled – and had to stop when she heard a branch snap.**

"**What? Are you serious? How did time fly by so fast! I mean maybe she could've just left while we waited here like big – mmphjjmpp" Charly ended up covering Claire's mouth so she could listen better since she was kind of freaked out.**

"**Ssshhhhh! didn't you hear that?" Charly whispered trying to sound as calm as she could but fear dripped from every single syllable she uttered.**

"**No. Why? What did you hear?" Claire asked looking around.**

"**Um… never mind… probably just paranoia kicking in… you know how I don't like the dark too much…" she made up excuses as she strolled over to her slightly heavy backpack and swung it over her small shoulder – not before discreetly getting out a flashlight she had in for any special occasion like this one, she didn't favor darkness so she always carried it around with her. "Let's go. You can call Carmen from your cell phone." She said quietly as she grabbed Claire's much healthier looking forearm with her boney fingers. She didn't have a cell phone so Claire was gonna have to call their older missing friend.**

"**Okay! Why the sudden hurry anyways?" She asked as Charly let go off her arm and the both of them started walking along the pathway and at times even through the street itself since there were no cars passing by.**

"**Nothing… it's just… mom and dad are probably going to be pretty pissed about me being late and I'm really, uhh not in the mood for being grounded… again…" she said trying to make up an excuse that didn't sounds as lame as the truth which was that she had a small phobia of the darkness. Though it wasn't as bad as her fear of water and snakes. A shiver ran through her spine at the thought of these. **

"**Carmen! Oh, thank goodness you're okay!... No it's just that we kind of doze off and didn't realize how late it was, by the way how did… oh, ok your mom came for you? Mmm all right well were on our way now, yeah don't worry about us we'll be fine." Charly heard Claire talking to Carmen. Good, so that meant she was okay. She tuned out Claire as she spaced off once more and was snapped out of it when…**

** CLANK!**

"**What was that?" she said too fast for Claire to understand as her heart started beating fast in her chest. Clutching her chest with her right hand she felt a strange hot sensation course through her making her body feel slightly numb and she was very sure that her face had drained off color. Her left hand which had been holding the black and red lantern forced itself forward automatically turning on the light and directing it toward an empty alley which they just happened to be crossing by. Nothing but a tabby came scurrying out and perhaps a rat or two. She started forward to enter when a hand suddenly landed on her right shoulder.**

"**Aaaahhhh!" she shrieked as she jerked away from the touch and was preparing to throw the lantern at the owner of said appendage.**

"**AH! Don't scare me like that! Sheesh! What's gotten into you? Charly I just didn't want you going in there. You always manage to one way or another get into trouble and your mom wouldn't be very happy if I came home alone or dragged only half of you there you know!" Claire reprimanded Charly in the same fashion their history teacher had done earlier at school. Only that her chubby fingers looked really cute and funny and therefore she never took her very seriously. She might have the worst temper in the world but Charly could never stay mad at her no matter how hard she tried. Even though at times she kind of annoyed her since she treated her like a little kid who needed babysitting all the freaking time. **_'Only because I'm ONE year younger than her. Of course I can't say I wouldn't blame her. My curiosity always got the better of me at every single time. I was always the least talkative out of the three of us, especially at parties.'_** She would be like the black rose among the red ones. Always sitting in a small corner. But when it came to things that called her attention she was all for it. This one time she remembered her, Claire and Carmen were having a stroll by a park a little ways away from the city and they happened to come across an abandoned house, or more like mansion. **

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><p><strong>- <strong>_**FLASHBACK**_** -**

It had a black, tall, iron, gate with leaves and vines growing up the rusty metal. It was like a hill up to the mansion itself. The grass all around it – without counting all the bushes and trees – was about 4' tall while the gate was like 10' high. The mansion had broken glass windows even though the door seemed like it was shut. _'Me being the curious mess I am wanted to go inside yet Claire and Carmen were terrified not only because of how creepy the house/mansion itself looked but it was almost midnight and so it was pitch black out. I didn't really care because the full moon was that night and there were no clouds. Therefore it created some small artificial light over the mansion making it look almost heavenly.'_

She had a small bag with her in which she had a lantern – as you already knew her phobia among others – so she got it out as she tried moving the gate to open but since it was so old, and had been there like that for probably quite some time – not to mention that at the time she didn't really have the strength enough to do so, not that she could've don't it now anyways – the gate didn't even bulge.

While Claire and Carmen started making up excuses that were like _'Oh look at that it didn't open! We should probably go now Charly!'_ Charly mere took off her little bag while placing the hand that had the lantern through one of the spaces between the big bars and throwing the lantern to the other side.

"What do you think you're doing?" asked Carmen putting her hands on her hips and glaring suspiciously at Charly who was by now grabbing a tight hold of the bars and one foot on one of the horizontal ones.

"Climbing… what else?" she responded with a small voice yet with a big toothy grin placed on her lips as she looked back to the older two stricken girls.

"Charly don't you even dare take one more foot up…" Claire threatened in a low menacing voice glaring hard at the boney, younger teenager. Just to tease her Charly put both feet on the same bar above the ground while giggling at her friend's face. Oh how she loved bothering her. Don't think she was the bad one though. Whenever she would do something wrong or be inattentive she would always receive a smack from either older girls.

"You can come too if you want to you know." She said turning back to the task at hand and started going up higher.

"Whoa! Wait Charly what if you fall?" asked Carmen with concern obvious in her tone. Charly merely shrugged and replied with a,

"I'll 'break a leg then!" smiling big at the small joke and continued till the top. Once she reached she swung on leg over the top of the pointy ends – which she had not realized were that dangerously looking from below – but when she tried to pass the other one her skinny jeans got caught on the one of the small black blades. She yanked and pulled but the metal simply wouldn't let its iron grip on her blue pants go. She heard her friends yell at her but she wasn't listening, she was too busy trying not to freak out about the fact that she was 10' feet high with a leg sticking out and the other one stuck.

Finally she managed to yank it free but as consequence her other foot slipped. Letting out her biggest shriek as she fell down she closed her eyes waiting for an impact that would probably mean the end of her. Every single bone of her body felt like they had broken. A horrible pain shooting up her body, its prominent source being her skull.

After that she didn't hear anything, almost as if she was deaf or something. Everything around her was a blur. Colors mixed, distorted and separated. Everything was black except for the light and soft touch the moon had against her still body. Something strange and foreign seemed to surge through her and the colors turned into one, single, bright, white light. Afterwards she felt like she was floating, mind and body numb she thought that maybe she had died. That thought died as soon as something seemed to pull her back to real life, literally. A shock went through her body and she jerked awake hitting her forehead on something hard. As her pale, small hands went up to clutch the injured place she looked up to the worried eyes of her friends who were now towering over her. How did they get there so fast?

"Charly? Oh my god! I thought you were dead!" as the words left Carmen's mouth she soon found herself in said girl's vice-like grip – which was actually supposed to be a VERY BIG bear hug. Charly blinked a couple of times before realizing that Claire was clutching her forehead just like her and rubbing it.

"Wow. For someone as skinny as you, you've got a pretty hard head." She said as she looked around looking for something.

"Why do you think I'm so stubborn?" she replied with a smirk yet also rubbing the bruise forming on her head. How did she survive a fall like that?

"How on the name of God did you manage to stay alive after a fall like that? Not that I'm complaining but you took it pretty hard." Carmen said finally letting the poor, slightly shocked girl.

"How long was I out?" ignoring her friend's question she started getting up.

"About 15 minutes." Claire said nonchalantly picking up something from the ground then turning around and revealing Charly's precious lantern in her hands.

"Fifteen minutes? You mean to tell it took you all that time to get on here?" she exclaimed shocked. She could've died by then.

"Well we found a small hole in the gate a bit farther away so yeah… to get Claire unstuck took about half of that time." Carmen replied not noticing Claire's glare or choosing to ignore it.

"Of course I should've known it was that, especially since I'm so much of a psychic." Charly sarcastically replied. She was glad that they didn't just left her but as she said before, she could've died.

"Stop your whining and grab this so we can out of here. It's giving me the creeps." Claire said faking Goosebumps.

"What? Are you kidding me? After that fall you think I'm just gonna go back home? As if! My effort is not gonna be wasted!" Charly replied defiantly, kneeling down to grab her dark blue beanie, placing it on her head and walking casually up the hill to the front door of the house.

"Charly! Charlyyyyy! Waaaiiitttt! Don't just leave me here!" Claire yelled dramatically, throwing up her arms and running to catch up with her skinny friend while Carmen stared wide eyes and then scowled.

"Great… now I'M gonna have to babysit the BOTH of them…" she yelled to no one in particular and also going up the grassy, leafy pathway.

AAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!

As soon as Carmen heard that scream she recognized it as Charly's and ran wildly up the rest of the pathway thinking something bad could've happened to her friend.

"What? What? What's wrong? Why are you… screa… ming?..." Carmen trailed off as she saw nothing out of the ordinary… except for Charly in Claire's arms – just like Shaggy would with Scooby Doo or vice versa – practically choking the chubby blond as she held on for dear life.

"Um… What's going… on?" she asked mostly to herself than to the girls.

"Please… get her (choking sound)… gah… off… of me!..." Claire said trying to gain some more balance as she swayed from side to side.

"GET IT AWAY FROM ME!" Charly shrieked in an unnatural high pitched voice with chocolate eyes wide as saucers and staring hard at a spot in the ground.

"Get what exactly away from you?..." Carmen asked somewhat confused and trying to find the source of the girl's fear.

When Carmen saw Charly's lantern on the floor she picked it up and as she turned it on she saw what Charly was so scared of.

"You have got to be kidding me… are you serious Charly? And I thought I was a sacredly cat…" Carmen said looking perplexed at the small frog that seemed to be paralyzed in the wet grass. All of a sudden it made a loud 'Ribit!' the lower mouth of said amphibian rising and then lowering back to its rightful place.

"EEEEEEEKKKKK!" Charly let out a loud squeak/shriek that surprised both Carmen and the unbalanced Claire. They had never heard Charly make such a sound. She was always lazy, careless, a bit of a tomboy and pretty much a combination of a rock/punk girl and a hippie. She hadn't showed much girly attitude in the years that they had been together until that single night. Carmen and Claire did the only thing either of them would've done in such a situation…

…they burst with endless laughter.

"Wha… what… what are you guys laughing at?" Charly asked looking from Claire to Carmen and vice versa.

"Oh my God! I can't believe it! THE Charly is actually afraid of an inoffensive, cute, little frog! Hahahahahahahaha! Do you have frog-phobia or something?" Carmen let out in a fit of giggles and snorts.

"FYI, it's Ranidaphobia and yes I don't like frogs, or salamanders, or lizards, or snakes… or -" she was cut off.

"Okay. We get it! No reptiles! Happy?" Claire asked in a snobby kind of way which Charly tried her best to ignore.

"No. Frogs are actually amphibians and salamanders can be considered that too." Charly said raising one finger up while smirking at Claire. Oh how she loved bothering that blonde.

Of course bothering her had its consequences…

"Auugghh!" yelled Charly as she was dropped to the ground by Claire.

"Let's just get out of here already." Carmen said making her way down the pathway.

"Hey! Wait up!" Claire yelled while making her way down as fast as her chubby legs could carry her.

"Hey… wait! I never got to go inside!" Charly whined trying to get her friends to listen to her but they were already half way down therefore didn't hear a word uttered from the girl's lips.

Sighing she bit onto her lower lip while up at the magnificent beauty just a couple steps away from her. Damn her blasted curiosity…

Looking back quickly to see where her friends were she saw they hadn't made it to the bottom yet. Taking this chance as an opportunity she snatched her lantern from the ground and made a mad dash for the front door of the old mansion.

Hesitantly – as to not make much sound – she stepped carefully onto the wooden stairs listening to the gentle squeaks it would make as her weight was placed upon them. Tiptoeing till the old door she looked to see that the handle was that shaped into the form of a silver dragon with ruby red eyes. Making an 'ooh' sound she lightly stroked it with her pointer finger noticing that even though dusty it wasn't rusty at all – unlike the rest of the house – making it a smooth and cool surface. Gently taking the dragon into her hand she turned it and opened it, wincing at the loud sound it made – it had a resemblance to black painted, sharp claws dragging along a board – as it echoed in her sensitive ears.

"Whoa…" she said to herself as she stared with big, sparkly eyes at the inside of the mansion. She walked inside with a giddy expression you would usually see on the face of a child who had just walked in a candy store.

A beautiful black and silver chandelier was hanging in the ceiling above. This just about proofed just how big the mansion was. Therefore it gave her all the more reason to call it a mansion. The chandelier had sparkling diamonds – some of which were broken, dented, or missing –, spider webs, and dead roses. As she stepped below it a black petal fell from one of the rotting roses and slowly descended until it graced her white left cheek. She raised her appendages and saw how the dark red with black blotches stood out contrastingly against her pearl skin.

Her brown orbs gazed deeply onto it she couldn't help but let a smile graze her small, pink lips. It might of have looked rotten, old, disgusting maybe to other people – like Claire – but to her it was like the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She sighed sadly as she thought about how she wished somebody could give her even a single, small rose like these one. No boy ever really had any interest in her. Sure some perverts here and there but those were the ones who could hit on anything that moved as long as it had long legs and what they needed to please themselves. She interrupted her thoughts by shaking her head, black locks moving along. She didn't need to be thinking about pigs like them. They weren't worth it. Letting the petal slip from her fingers she continued on exploring, quite surprised that Carmen and Claire hadn't come barging in to look for her – not that she wanted attention, it's just that they were always really bossy and were sometimes as annoying as a babysitter or your mother could be.

_'Wow… I wish I could live here…'_ she thought gazing at the expensive, antique and rare items that seemed to appear at every corner. On her opinion she loved it. Taking out her camera from a small, black and purple, side bag and taking a few pictures here and there. She made this quick as she knew her friends were bound to come and drag her away any minute now.

As she was about to live a sudden light blinded her eyes slightly. Turning her head away she looked around for the source until her eyes fell upon a wooden chest. On top was something that seemed to reflect the light caused by her flash light. Walking over to it she picked up the object replacing the empty space with the long forgotten lantern. Gazing onto it with glittering chocolate eyes she found herself looking at a beautiful, rare gem. It was a strange clear color that seemed to change colors when she moved it – it looked clear yet multi-colored. It was attached to a single golden string. The gem itself wasn't very big, yet something about it seemed to be calling and pulling at Charly. She looked like she was lost in a trance staring at it for who knows how long.

That is until a sudden CRACK! Outside made her drop the stone onto the black wooden floor, the jump and sudden jerk she made caused the flash light to fall onto the ground and roll, pointing itself in the direction of the doorway in which stood two stern looking girls.

_ 'Whew… it's only them…'_ she honestly didn't know who or what she expected it to be, but for once she was glad to see the glares of her two friends obviously irritated by her. She didn't mind because she knew they were her friends even though they fought a lot.

"Charly…" Claire said in a low, warning voice while tapping her shoe impatiently and crossing her arms over her ample chest. Sometimes Charly doubted that she was truly sixteen, because she looked like a woman of twenty.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry okay. My curiosity got the better of me-"

"Again." Carmen finished for me as a simply grinned like a fool and bent down to snatch the flashlight… secretly taking with me the stone and placing it inside my bag along with my things.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go ladies!" Charly said bounding after the leaf filled path with brand new energy…

* * *

><p><strong>-End Flash Back-<strong>

"… **ening to me? HEEEYYY! EARTH TO THE DUMB ONE!" Claire yelled probably leaving poor Charly deaf for life.**

"**I'm listening, I'm listening… sheshh!" Charly gently rubbed her ears as her forehead twisted into a frown.**

"**Gosh girl! I understand you got epilepsy and all but you have got to have some control over it you know!" she said not realizing how much her words truly hurt her. **_'I already know I'm retarded… you don't have to rub it in my face…'_

** Remaining silent she started going into the alleyway with a hysterical Claire behind her tale.**

"**Oh Charly… you know I didn't mean it that way! Come on I'm serious! Talk to me already!" she said as she came next to me and grabbed one of my shoulders shaking it roughly.**

"**Cut it out! You already know what I told you and Carmen about that and yet you practically yelled it away for the whole world to hear!" she turned and kept on walking after that small reaction.**

** They walked in silence after that and suddenly Charly felt bad about snapping at Claire like that. Sure the girl could drive you crazy sometimes but she herself could become an annoyance without even noticing this.**

_'**Charlotte…'**_

"**Whatwasthat?" Charly said snapping her head in all directions, eyes wide, hands shaking.**

"**What? I didn't hear anything." Claire looked around like Charly except more calmly.**

"**I could've sworn I… never mind" sighing she kept walking till coming to a dreadful realization… it was a dead end.**

** Claire seemed to be oblivious to Charly's ragged breathing as she looked around the dirty trash cans.**

"**Told you it was a waste of time. Come on let's go." Claire started pulling Charly back toward the entrance of the alley.**

** SSRRRHHHRRSSSHHRRR**

** A horrible sound resembling that of Freddy Krueger's when he passed his metal claws against some pipes to scare Nancy resounded and echoed throughout the entire place.**

** Gasping Claire said, "W-who's there?" she screamed as Charly grabbed onto her arm for dear life. Claire could've sworn that even though the girl was practically all bones she had a grip that was cutting off her circulation.**

"**What are two little girls like you doing in such a dark place like this…" whispered/sneered a voice as spine chilling chuckles came from the dark. Charly had turned off the flash light in fear of seeing who was there but Claire defiantly snagged it away from her smaller hands and jerked it violently toward their harasser with a sneer on her lips.**

"**I am SO **_**NOT**_** a little girl!" she yelled placing one hand on her hip and the other one pointing it toward the owner of the chilling voice.**

** More chuckling came and Charly felt like throw out her insides from the nervousness and fright building up inside of her. Even with the immense light created by the object in Claire's hand they still couldn't see who it was. Claire moved forward slightly, followed closely by Charly. When the sound of metal against the concrete reached both the girl's ears again they both felt a bone chilling shiver shoot up their spine.**

** As the intruder stepped into the light painfully slowly… Claire and Charly both gasped, yet for completely different reasons.**

** Only one thought managed to reach Charly before Claire passed out and left her there trembling more than a chicken trying to hide itself from a ferocious coyote…**

'…**Oh… crap…'**

* * *

><p><em><strong>R&amp;R!<strong>_

**=^.^=**


	2. Chapter 2

Heya! I'm back! I've been a little busy with school and now in only a few hours I have a medic appointment with a neurologist so I can only sleep for four hours. I thought that this could have been as good a moment as anything.

_SweetSacrifice123:_ Thank you very much for reviewing :) I'm glad that you liked/enjoyed my story.

Disclaimer: Look for it in the first chapter and leave me alone.

_Chapter 2_

_Charly's POV_

Oh… God… I am so… screwed… This can't be real… I must've… I, I must've stayed asleep on that bench… yeah that's it! I'm still sleeping in the bench with Claire probably trying to get me up-

"What's wrong dear?" Baraka chuckled sending horrible goose bumps crawling all the way up my already rigid spine. I don't believe it… I have to be hallucinating or-or something! Because there is no way in heck that he-h-he is real! Or better yet that!

Rubbing furiously at my eyes I tried looking for my glasses inside my bag. Perhaps my eyes were simply deceiving me. Oh! My hands are shaking too much and I can barely see a freaking thing! …Wait! My flashlight!

I looked around but to my horror I could faintly see – even though slightly blurry – my salvation right by the feet of the monstrous Tarkatan.

"Don't worry…" he sneered, I could see his eyes darkened and he cackled as I felt my eyes stinging with upcoming tears.

"GAH!-" All of a sudden an incredible force pushed against my middle hurtling me back like a rag doll. Hitting the brick wall, my head connecting harshly against it and then slumped forward falling on top of a dumpster. I would've stayed atop the dirty, old metal contraction if it weren't for the angle I was thrown off. I barely used the dumpster as a trampoline and landed back on the pavement with an unceremonious landing and a loud yell.

"Mmmhm" he seemed to be 'thinking'… if he even had a brain, "and I thought you would be more of a challenge" he said shaking his head in disappointment, arms crossed and sneering/chuckling.

What did he mean by that? Grabbing onto the wall as support I tried getting back to my feet, only to fall back down to my butt. Ow! I flinched as I felt a deep sting coming directly from my stomach which was sending waves after waves of pain. What… I felt something wet when I grabbed my middle. I gasped when I raised my left arm to the light. I could see the red stains on it and an unsettling feeling crept up my chest, to my throat and finally came out as my dinner and breakfast.

The minute I realized I was going to throw up I leaned to the opposite side so that my spills wouldn't be seen. Just seeing my food in the dirty pavement, getting mixed with the trash beside the dumpster made me feel sick again… gosh… the moment the smell reached my nostrils I emptied myself again.

"Pathetic" I heard Baraka hiss as footsteps kept coming closer. Realizing that Baraka had cut two, ghastly gashes in my abdomen, going all the way from my bellybutton to my upper abdomen.

I got up trying to get away from said creature when a moan stopped me dead in my tracks. Looking back slowly, and frightfully I watched as my best friend gathered herself in the floor, completely oblivious to the demonic eyes gazing down on her.

Frozen I had no idea as to what as to what I should have done. For a moment I thought he would just ignore her and keep his assault on me, but after seconds – later turning into minutes – of staring I got ticked off. When she started to come and mumble incoherent things he began advancing on her. That was what got me moving. My legs moved underneath me and before I knew it I had hurled my frame against his bigger one managing to land on the floor, yet dragging him along for the ride. The effect was the one I wanted… but not in the way it happened.

He got angry and pissed off that's for sure but I somehow hadn't expected him to run me through with both his blades. I gasped as I felt the broad swords go through my middle, possibly sticking out my back. The pain was unbearable. I could already taste the metallic flavor of blood slowly rising up my throat. He still hadn't let go, instead he decided to make me writher in pain. So he put more pressure making me whimper slightly even though in truth... it hurt like hell. I didn't feel like screaming for him though, he wasn't worth my pain.

He hissed at my face applying even more pressure to my already deep wounds. I could feel the blood slowly flowing out like a fountain. Drops were heard crashing with the stone below, which by the way, had already left my feet as I was now dangling a feet or so above the ground.

Crimson liquid started overflowing my throat and soon began to creep out the corners of my mouth. Black spots covered parts of my vision and a headache began to make itself present. I heard soft sounds in the background when my eyes began to feel heavy. Small tears gathered in my eyes and clouded them before one silently fell from one of them. I knew I was gonna die… and nobody would be there to help me…

But one last look before blacking out told me differently, Claire was coming up behind Baraka. _Nooo! Claire nononononononono! Get out of here already! I'm not worth it just let me die and save yourself idiot!_

"Take this!" KRNKKSHRRRRR!

My vision was still blurry due to the fact that there was water in them, I already had slight eye sight problems… and blood was also started to fall on them from somewhere in my head. That didn't stop me from seen Claire and the vulnerable position she found herself in though.

When I saw something wet falling from her arm… his hand was around her throat holding her up just as high as I was… I saw red.

My veins felt as though they were boiling right under my white, scrapped skin. Giving out an uncharacteristic growl I pushed my left leg backwards and then brought it forward as hard as I could. Damn… think it hurt me more than him…

It worked though. He let go of both of us in his small distracted moment. Overseeing the fact that he would probably kill us now that I had kicked him I crawled/ran towards the trashcans to get something, anything that could act as a shield or weapon. Yet on my way there something harsh and cold dragged me away from my salvation and back to where I started… Claire was frozen on the floor in terror of the fate that awaited us both… _God, please if I'm gonna die then just make it quick and be done with it…_

A shriek held place, yet I didn't feel in pain. No guts crushed, no blood spluttering into his metal, rusted claws, no nothing. Though, my ear drums nearly exploded… _Damn… didn't know Claire had such strong lungs… though she had a bit of high pitched tone, it wasn't that bad…_

Wait a sec… that wasn't Claire… Tentatively, fearing that my friend might've taken the blow instead of me, I opened my tired eyes…

"WAAHH!" Right in my face I saw a battle axe, broad and slightly dented, bathed in a dark substance. But that wasn't what made me yell or stare wide eyed… the metal had gone right through the face of the demon holding me and-oh, wait he let go of Claire already. It passed straight through the back of the head and was barely a couple inches away from my pale, frozen face. Sweaty, shaking, pale, small hands reached up to touch the intruding metal – it was an impulse on my part. When my pointer finger made contact with the right side I felt tears rising to cover my eyes in watery fog. It. Was. Real. I could feel the substance on it making it sleek – I was pretty sure that wasn't oil.

"Charly…"

"…"

"Charly"

"…"

"Charly! Snap out of it!" a strong hand grabbed the axe hauling it harshly out of the skin and bones – probably brain too, if he had one – making me flinch as the skin became a mess of scarred and chapped skin. If he was ugly before, he looked worse than an over-killed zombie by now.

The feeling of falling became aware to me if only a second before I hit the ground. My eyes fell shut when I remembered the Tarkatan had been holding me, therefore he probably was gonna land on me. Instead I felt a rush of wind and something resembling smoke washing over me. Letting my eyes re-open to see black remaining smeared smoke like ghostly spreading about until it vanished completely. Coughing slightly and arm came to my back and helped seat up only to wince, shutting my eyes and clenching my teeth at the pain the little movement brought.

"Verdammt, das verdammte Damon aus der Holle…" I mumbled not wanting Claire to hear me swear – she always ended up hitting me.

WHACK!

"AUGH!"

"Stop cursing in other languages!" I looked at her with wide eyes –while rubbing the bump in my head and my lips parted to form a gaping look. _Damn her! She knew I was cursing! Aww crud… that means I can't use that anymore…_

"But I-" Stopping dead in my tracks I gazed up at Claire who was standing in front of me. Hands in hips, lips pursued, blond/brown hair messy, eyes glaring…

Gasp.

She stopped glaring at me and her face changed from an irritated one to a confused one. "What?" she asked putting her hands down and looking at me strangely.

"If-but-you're, y-you're there…" I rambled looking at her, more like leering as fear formed in the pits of my - already damaged enough – stomach.

"Duh. Of course I'm here. What's gotten into you?" she asked kneeling down to look at me closely, then lifting up a caramel, chubby, white nail polished hand to my forehead. "All of this blood loss probably took its toll on you." She said reminding me of something… what is it… I have on the point of my tongue… mmm… oh! That's right! I remembered: A doctor.

"If you're here… then…" I gulped, taking a deep breath and staining my pale neck to look up at the stranger holding me up… "Oh…" was the only thing I could utter at the moment.

"Hey, um, mister, we're um very grateful for um, you know, you saving us and all… but my friend here really needs to see a doctor okay? So uh, either you let her go so I can call an ambulance or… help me with her?" Claire uttered looking wary of the warrior clad in red robes and black bandages. I was in a still trance in his green, luminous, hypnotizing and a bit unnerving orbs. I knew him. How could I not? Or I should probably say them. Not wavering my eyes or stopping my rude staring moment I reached a skinny, lazy arm blindly towards Claire to try and shut her up so I could ask her if I was going insane but then remembered that she wouldn't recognize him as well as I did.

"Claire? Um… uh… I think…" I murmured feeling a sudden sense of anger washing over my body like a wave only to leave as soon as it came… Shaking my head around, messy, dark locks flying about, I cleared my head when I felt a hand wrap itself around my aching middle and lifted me up. "Uh… wait… w-what are you doing E-" I caught my tongue before his name could roll of it – not really knowing why.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing? Put her down right now mister! O-or I'll call the police!" she said shaking with anger, possibly fear too.

"You needn't worry. We will not harm her. On the contrary we are here to help you both. But for us to aid you, you must come with us." He said in his multi-toned voice, changing my position as he did. Now I was being carried by him in bridal style. My heart started racing. What's he gonna do? Are his words true? Is he really trying to help… or is he faking and planning on kidnapping us? Oh God, If I didn't feel like I was about to faint I would've probably jumped right out of his broad arms and ran to Claire but…

I looked up at him again. His eyes were now focusing on Claire who was throwing a hissy-fit and ordering him to place me back on the hard concrete beneath us. Curiosity was bubbling inside of me once more. Not really knowing why… I… Trusted… Him. And having used him as a playable character on Mortal Kombat had nothing, at all, to do with it. I guess he just had this comfortable, peaceful aura around him…

"…Claire I think we can trust him…" I whispered barely audible or to the reach of human ears. Meaning that only Ermac looked at me. I turned my eyes from his own orbs feeling a bit uneasy and instead changed to my hyperventilating friend.. "Claire!" I yelled high enough for her to stop rambling and to look at me.

"What?" she said… panting? Obviously she didn't trust him one bit. Couldn't blame her though. If some weird guy in lots of robes and mommy-like wraps came up to us and suddenly grabbed her I would to get defensive. We we're almost like sisters after all.

"I… think we should go… with him…" I said as my eyes drooped a bit and I could see my dark lashes in my view.

"ARE YOU INSANE?"

"GA-AH! Don't yell!" I said now fully awake and wincing at the force I felt in my upper abdomen from that outburst. Looking down I saw that Ermac's red robes had something dark and wet on them… more blood… great…

"How do you not want me to yell? You want to go to who knows where with some stranger you just met barely five minutes ago? I think you're brain's roasted girl!" She made dramatic gestures with her arms and hands as she said this. Okay… so… it wasn't such a good idea to go with him… but… I had this… poking feeling that we didn't really have a choice…

"W-why… why… why do you want us to go with you? And… for what?" I asked wavering and took a small gulp.

"You must come with us because you will be safer. Once we reach our destination you shall be informed about the situation." Was all he said before he started to walk away and towards the end of the deserted alley, with an angry Claire in tow.

"Wait! Where do you think you're going? Put Charly down and leave us alone you creep!" she yelled as she catched up to us and stood high in front of the warrior holding me. Now I felt… awkward. I don't know why. It's just that seeing Claire trying to confront a man that could snap her in half with a flick of his wrist just because he had me in his arms and wanted to take me to God knows where…

"We are sorry but we are under orders." He said unwavering at Claire's harsh and loud voice.

"And who's orders exactly?" she put an air quote to put emphasis on the person Ermac was taking orders from. Uh-oh… I have a bad feeling… I think I might have a small guess as to whose orders it might be…

"…Lord Raiden's"

Gasp. Well, this just about made my day.

R&R

=^.^=


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello everybody! I'm back! I'm sorry I hadn't updated in so long. School has been a nightmare and getting inspiration for my stories isn't easy -_-' Also I'm very sorry because I don't have a chapter ready for my other story "More than meets the eye". Good news for those who liked Broken Wings! I have two more chapters besides this one. Though the fifth is on process but it'll be posted as oon as possible. Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! And "Éxito" in English "Sucess" for school! On with the story!**

**Disclaimer: I do now own ANYTHING besides my OC's which are for the moment: Charly, Claire, Carmen and Jennifer.**

**_Claire's POV_**

I'm never EVER listening to Charly again. About an hour ago Charly passed out. An hour ago and we're still walking. An hour ago I was on my way home. An hour ago I was in MY world. What do I call this? Kidnapping? Saving? Or maybe I'm in the nut house, screaming and kicking.

Honestly I don't trust this guy at all but...he kind of saved us both from the psycho with the blades. I can't see his freaking face though and that me feel very uneasy. Frowning I looked at the bundle in his arms. I was pretty surprised about how Charly acted though. Never had I seen her so violent, and it was to save my life. A smile slowly crept up my face when I thought of Charly. She was my best friend - we were almost sisters. Getting on each others throats - metaphorically of course, Charly wouldn't hurt a fly - but always there for the other when we needed to.

Carmen. She was part of our clique. Not that I wanted her to. It's not that I hated her and wanted to rip her throat out. She's just so... _Perfect_. Little miss perfect. She _is_ older than me though. Seventeen. While I'm sixteen just like Charly. We met when we we're fourteen and a couple of months afterwards Carmen helped Charly out when she was being bullied by the seniors. If you're wondering, _no_ I didn't ditch her - I never would - I was sick with chicken pox and had to skip for a whole week.

Ever since that time we've been like the three musketeers - or at least that's how Charly likes to call us. Or the C team. All our names start with C, weird huh?

I've always been the most sociable and fashionable of the three. Not that Carmen doesn't have that too but I can definetively take it to the extreme. Truth is we all have something alike with another one of us. Like the fact that Charly doesn't care much about what she wears -though when she does she ain't half bad - and doesn't wear make up unless Carmen and I force her. The time Carmen and I actually team up: To play barbie with poor lil Charly. Even though the girl's shy and none violent, when we start putting loads of make up on her... all hell breaks loose.

There has always been two things I've envied about her: Her long hair and her free spirit. I swear if anybody were to cut that hair of hers... well either you have a death wish or you're just plain dumb. She's not the super girly type but she hates short hair. The only time she ever cut it was when she was going from middle school to high school and it wasn't too much. Also... her parents are christians and I know there are a couple of conflicts going on in her home - she was the older sister with a brother and sister - so I admire how she keeps on going with a smile on her face. She dresses and acts however she wants not caring about what others think. Not only that but she doesn't have a constant style. One day she comes all hippy, the other she's a punk rocker, next she's all gangsta and so on.

The best trait Charly possesses is that she's a listener and whether she recognizes or not she gives very good advice. She listens to you and then helps you solve your problems. A weird little trivia about her though is that she sleeps a lot. Not kidding she goes to sleep at three to five in the morning and then wakes up at 3 or 4 in the afternoon. That's twelve hours. The maximum a human should sleep is eight hours. And then she falls asleep at lunch too. Not always but enough times that I can't count with my fingers anymore.

"We are almost there." A voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked up to see something in the distance. 'Not quite sure what it is... But if it means no more trees and dirt then I don't care what it is.' I have seen snakes, spiders, squirrels with red eyes... And other things I don't have a name for. Looking over at Charly again I sped up a bit to look closer. She hadn't made a sound during this entire time and I was beginning to doubt she was even still alive.

"She's still breathing but do not worry, we will get help for her once we get to the village."

"Still breathing?" I asked with incredulity. That's supposed to make me feel better? And - wait, what village?

"She did get quite a beating." he or... It said with a tone that sounded 'isn't it obvious?'

"I know that. Which is why I'm so worried about-"

A soft, low moan interrupted me and Charly started to stir slightly in the guy's/thing's arms. She lifted her good arm - or tried to - to put it on her eyes. A second after trying she dropped it so that it was hanging limply and buried her head on the... chest of the thing holding her. I saw how it visibly tensed up and went rigid.

"Charly? Charly you ok?" I asked getting closer and for the first time I managed to see how she looked - though it mainly had to do with the light reflecting on her skin. I felt my self go pale. In a place like Chicago or Forks she might've looked a bit colored but in Cali or Australia she probably would've looked like an albino. Right now her skin had no coloration what so ever. It looked snow white. Black bags were getting more noticeable by the minute. Her lips were pretty white too - usually they had a small rosy tint but now they were white with a blueish color. She looked like a zombie for God's sake!

"When are we getting there?" I asked impatiently and very angry.

"Already there." the answer made me look forward and I saw indeed, a little village. Not many houses, but well hidden in the dense forest. There were torches with fire that lit up the place and gave it a slight mysterious air. Not my style.

"Ah, Ermac. I see that you made it. Did you get attacked by anyone." I looked at the owner of the voice. It was a man with weird clothes and a straw hat - a very large one at that.

"Not us." Ermac - that's how the man called it - turned so the man could see Charly. The man's face -what I could see of it - changed to shock for a minute but it was gone the second it came.

"Get her inside with the other one. Quickly." The straw hat man said and Ermac moved in the direction of one of the huts that had stairs. They were all made out of wood. When we pushed past the door - it saw a curtain - I came across something that amazed me. Carmen was here. Apparently injured and with another girl. Carmen was awake though. She was cradling her right arm with a makeshift cast but that was it. The other girl I had never seen before in my life. She had medium lenght blond hair tied with a pink ribbon in a high ponytail with blue eyes. Her skin had a perfect tan and a couple of scratches. Most of her clothes were also pink. Barbie much?

"Claire? Oh my God! What happened to Charly?" Carmen cut the previous conversation she had with Barbie to come running over to me and Charly.

"I have no idea." I said which was kind of true. What was I supposed to say? The Boogie Man with big bad claws came from under her dumbster and scared her? Oh no. Charly's strange sense of humor is rubbing off on me.

"What? How can you not know? Weren't you with her? And how did you get here?-" I cut her off before she could continue.

"Look, what I mean is that I don't know how to explain it and if I don't know where I am how can I know how I got here?" I continued before she could utter another word, "and who's Barbie over there?" I nodded my head towards the girl in question, who turned her head to me.

"Are you talking about me?" she pointed her manicured fingernails to herself while raising an almost invisible eyebrow.

"Her name's Jennifer. She was also brought here." she answered. By now Charly was placed inside another room on a plain matress and there were people around her, tending to her wounds.

"That still doesn't answer my question." I said crossing my arms over my chest.

"Jennifer Fox. I'm about to turn eighteen and was the class president of the senior class in our school-" before she could go on I interrupted.

"Our school?" I asked frowning in disbelief. No way she studied in the same school I did.

"Oh no. I meant where Carmen used to study with me." she said while I took notice of her face, she used a lot of make up.

"Okaaay. How did the two of you get here?" I asked while they looked at each other.

"Well I was almost kidnapped in my own house but this guy in blue came and a another guy soon showed up with Jeni. After that they brought us here." Carmen resumed for me and then Barbie started to talk again.

"And he was definetively not a gentleman." she said shaking her head. My eye twitched when I noticed she had a british accent. Why hadn't I noticed before? Oh ho, if only Charly was awake she would totally agree with me - now though, I notice why she doesn't like it when people give off that accent.

"At least they brought us here, were ever here is." Carmen said and I took the opportunity to change the conversation.

"If Charly were awake I can guarantee that we definetively would know where we are." I said looking over at the closed door that held Charly inside. This one was actually made out of wood.

"Oh your skinny friend?" Barbie asked and I almost slapped her.

"She's not skinny she just has fast metabolism and who are you to call her like that huh?" I asked my nostrils flaring. It wasn't much about the fact that she called her skinny, it was the way she said it. Everything about her just annoyed me.

"Excuse me, but first off all, don't yell at me because that is highly inappropiate. Second, it's the truth no matter what way she digests her food." she said counting off her fingers.

"You know what? I'm gonna look for somebody that knows where in the world I am, and how to get back." I stompted off not listening when they yelled after me.

God knows I can be annoying at times but that girl just down right gets on my nerves. That's a new world record: In less than two minutes she manages to piss me off.

"Excuse me but can I help you with something?" I turned around glad to finally hear a feminine voice other than Carmen's or Barbie's but immediately regreted ever leaving them.

"There are prostitutes here too?" I asked more to my self than to her. This... Woman, had the skimpiest outfit I had ever seen. It was mainly green and showed off more skin and cleavage than necessary. The woman raised an eyebrow.

"What?" she asked putting her overly tanned hands on her equal hips.

"Um... Who... How... Okay, first thing: Where am I?" I asked slowly.

"You are in Earthrealm of course." she answered with a small smile.

"It's official then. I'm hallucinating aren't I?" I asked her while she frowned.

"Not that I know of." she said, "You must be Claire though, right?" she extended her arm in my direction. "Nice to meet you, I'm Jade." at least now I know her name.

Reluctantly I shook her hand and asked her if I could see Charly. She led me into a room. There was Charly who was trying not to panic as she backed up into the far end of the bed and looked at a woman that held something in her hand. Both noticed me.

"Claire!" Charly's eyes lit up and jumped out of bed. Right after, she stopped, hunched over for a minute while holding her stomach with one hand and the other one she held up in the air signaling for me to give her a minute. Then she lunged at me. Thank God she's a little toothpick or we would have met the floor.

"You're okay!" she yelled while clinging on to me.

"And you're not. So go ahead and lay down." She sulked but obeyed all the while keeping an eye on the blond woman.

"Come on Charly! It's for your own good! Besides it's not like it's gonna kill you!" The woman said revealing medicine of some sort.

"I know Sonya but... it smells worse than it looks. How do you think it'll taste then?" Charly said pinching her nose.

'Sonya' looked over at me.

"Is she always like this?"

"Pretty much."

"Hey..." Charly looked at me accusingly but I just shrugged and worded, 'its the truth'.

After some more arguying Charly finally drinked the liquid. I laughed at her expression.

"Bleh. That's horrible. Um... *cough* isn't there something I can rinse my mouth with... Please?" Charly asked while grimacing.

"Nope."

"..."

"Just kidding. Go and ask the guy with shades to lend you somethin' to drink-" I cut her off.

"Uh, isn't it bad for her to move around so much? Heck you aren't even supposed to be awake yet!" Charly looked at me and then back at Sonya.

"I'm kind off also wondering about that." We both looked at her expectantly.

"Well?" Before she could answer me another voice rang through the room.

"I believe I can explain that." We turned and saw the man with straw hat from before.

Oh boy, this oughta be good.

Normal POV

After Raiden came in everybody else filed slowly into the room.

"Okay, so I guess the four of us want some answers." Carmen said while two heads nodded. Charly recognized everybody in the room but she didn't know what Raiden wanted with them. Still she didn't show right away any confusement what so ever.

"You four were brought here for protection and training." Was all he said so Claire urged him to keep going.

"There is a tournament in which you will have to participate-"

"Mortal Kombat." Charly accidentaly let out once she began to realize what was going on.

"Yes. I need the four of you to fight in this tournament for the sake of Earthrealm-"

"Wait what do you mean by 'fight'?" Jennifer asked raising an eyebrow.

"Probably that he wants us to save Earthrealm by defeating Shang Tsung." Charly said distractedly before realizing what she had said. Two slender hands came up to cover her mouth as she looked wide eyed around the room. There was an awkward silence that made her flushed nose and cheeks redden even more - so much as to reach her ears.

"How did you know that? You barely just got here." Cage broke the silence like it was made of butter - thankfully for poor Charly who was already very embarrased about having all the attention on her.

"Um-well, uh... You see I-I kind of...", she blanked for a minute and then turned to Raiden, her face still red, "weren't you about to say why I healed so quickly?" she made a quick and shy attempt to change the conversation.

Clearing his throat he continued,

"Yes, you see there's a reason as to why you four in specific need to win at this tournament. Shang Tsung, as Charlotte mentioned before," Charly was about to correct him on using her full name but opted against it, "will be participating. If he wins... Earthrealm would be at his mercy. Unfortunately, I have received news that he has different plans from the last tournament. I have been searching for the warriors capable of going up against the new threat. All the clues led me to you four." he pointed his arm at them as Charly silently gulped, "Each one of you are supposed to have different, yet very powerful abilities." He looked at Charly who fidgeted under his gaze. "I presume that thanks to those abilities you were able to heal quickly. Perphaps all of you can. I'm not entirely sure yet, since the Elder Gods have not revealed much about you. I will inform you if the Elder Gods inform me on anything regarding this. In the mean time you will spend these seven months training for the tournament." Raiden was interrupted by Claire.

"You mean to tell me that you plan on keeping us here for seven months?" Claire all but yelled wide eyed. The thunder God on the other hand remained relaxed and answered calmly.

"I'm afraid so. I assure you though that once your task is finished here you will go back to your former world." after that there was more silence before Jennifer spoke.

"So... How do we... Unlock... These supposed powers that you speak off." she asked what the other three had been thinking.

"That is what you will find out through your training. It might take you days, weeks and perhaps even months." He continued, "You will rest for today and tomorrow you shall know who each of you will have as your teacher." He was about to leave when a quiet voice interrupted him.

"Teacher?" Charly asked genuinely confused.

"Yes. You will need some help in hand-to-hand combat. Once you uncover your abilities though they shall mainly help you use it in battle and gain control over it."

A lightning struck and he was gone in a flash of light. That left the room in the same awkward atmosphere. Slowly each of the warriors began to go in separate directions. A lot of them went out, while Sonya, Johnny Cage, Ermac and Jade stayed. They went into other rooms - probably their rooms, the girls thought.

"So Charly I guess that you can heal quickly then huh?" Claire asked turning to face Charly, who was sitting on the far end of the little couch they were all in. She got out and sat cross ledged on the floor.

"Yeah... Kind of weird though... I mean, it didn't even leave a scar-"

"Well duh! That's the purpose of healing!" Claire yelled while Jennifer covered her ears. Carmen and Charly barely flinched though.

"For God's sake! Would you please mind keeping your voice down a notch? You are going to wake up everybody else!" Jennifer hissed at Claire, who in turn seethed at her.

"Hey, um if you don't mind me asking-" Charly began but got cut off by Carmen.

"Hey! You two will stop bickering right now. We're in a foreign place with no idea if we're going to wake alive tomorrow! For now I think you should try and get along!" Carmen began but didn't get to finish.

"And who died and made you queen?! You're not the boss of-" Claire was cut off.

"Well it's not like I started it!" yelled Jennifer.

"Hey, wait, can I-" Charly couldn't finish yet again.

"You don't have to bite my head off!" Carmen stood up, Claire following right after.

"Then stop being such a-" Claire was cut off.

"QUIET!"

"..."

"..."

"..."

They all stared at the black haired haired girl as she blushed at her outburst. Taking a deep breath, Charly began to say what she had been trying to get out before.

"First of all, I want to know who she is." She pointed at Jennifer.

"Jennifer Davidson. It's a pleasure to meet you now that you aren't unconscious." she extended her hand for Charly to shake.

"Second, we're not in a "foreign place" because I know where we are." Charly said after shaking hands with Jennifer.

"Then where are we?" Carmen asked crossing her arms.

Charly grinned in a very out of character way before answering.

"Earthrealm, Mortal Kombat. My favorite videogame."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello! I'm making up for not writing in so very long. Therefore I have ye here the fourth chapter of Broken Wings. :)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything besides my OCs. Which are Charly, Claire, Carmen and Jennifer.**

**_Jennifer's POV_**

Oh dear Lord... what have I gotten into? It has been at least three hours after Charly - or how I like to call her, Bones - gave us a full out explanation of this... Mortal Kombat world. To be honest it all sounds like something a vagrant under crack would say. Then again, at least she isn't as rude as her other friend, Claire. Her name doesn't go with her personality. She's loud, rough, speaks without thinking, and has been calling me Barbie since she met me. Right now though I'm the only one awake. We're all in the same room because we decided it would be best if we stayed together.

Claire was on the other bed. There we're only two beds and one "hamaca" as Charly called it. While I was on one of the two beds, Carmen was on the hamaca that was tied to the walls and Charly was on the floor with a pillow and a blanket. I stared at her for a few minutes. If what she had told us was true... then the only thing that would keep her alive in a place like this would be her knowledge. I have to admit I do feel a bit better when I'm around her. She was a bit shy but she knew about this place. She would definetively be our personal guide here.

Training. Ugh I can't believe were actually going to have to train with some total strangers. It's not like I don't already know how to defend myself. I took juijutsu and karate when I was younger. I wonder... what if one of those guys is going to train me? Oh I certainly hope not. They weren't very polite. Especially the one in that yellow ninja suit, since at least the one in blue wasn't as rude.

Now that I think of it, the men here - or at least the ones I've seen - have all been exceptionally... muscular. Charly did say that almost all the characters in the game were warriors but they were extremely buff. Mmm. I looked at Charly again. She didn't really look bothered by any of this. Except for the fact that we needed to fight. That seemed to have startled her as much as it did to us.

From what Carmen told me Claire and Charly were basically opposites. While Claire was very violent and outspoken Charly was more passive and shy. Claire was pretty strong while Charly was scrawny. Their interests we're...different but very similar all the same. Even when it's not the same thing, they're both still rather freaky and weird. Claire always talks without thinking whereas Charly takes her time to think. Charly apparently has a very artistic side. Drawing, writing, dancing, singing, acting...the girl had done it all. Though Carmen and Claire have never seen her dance, sing or act.

Claire wanted to study medicine and could get aggressive when trying to defend any argument that was hers. I had actually seen Claire hit Charly more than once in the time we had been here, yet the skinny girl barely moved a finger. All she did was cry out, glare and rub the spot on her head. Claire was lucky. Very luck. To have somebody like Charly by her side and actually enjoy her company. If I had been her I would've ended that "friendship" a long, long time ago...

_Thump!_

I immediately stopped and sat up. Looking down I saw Charly was also standing up, her eyes wide and rubbing her ears.

"You heard it too?" I was refering of course to the light sound that was heard from above but what she said wasn't what I was waiting.

"You kidding? That must've woken up everybody." What? That wasn't...uh, nevermind.

"Let's just stay here and let the "guards" take care of it." I put enphasis on the word guards and layed back down. After hearing a few rustles with the sheets I was about to shout at her for making so much noise. When I heard the door open though I stayed quiet.

"Charlotte?" Silence.

"Charly?" Not a hearbeat.

"Rapunzel?" More silence.

"Great."

* * *

><p><em><strong><span>Charly's POV<span>**_

Mmm. I wonder why I heard that so loudly. It sounded like a big footstep that was mistakenly placed on the floor. What in the world are those lines? I mean I know we probably see things differently here since it is another dimension but those flowing, colorful strings looked like water floating in mid air. There were a few, all with different colors, movements, sounds, appearance and even smells. I walked barefoot along the halls, touching the walls for reference because the only light was the one coming through the windows from the moon- wait moons?

Quietly stepping towards the wooden window I pressed my face and palms against the glass. Why are there two moons instead of just one? They look pretty though. This is a full moon night apparently. I thought that since this was Earthrealm it would resemble Earth but I guess I was wrong.

_Thump!_ There it is again!

I snuck around following the sound to where I thought it had come from. As I neared the end of the hall I was in, I saw a light coming from the left, right at the end.

_Thump! Thump! Shrnnnkk!_

That last sound froze me. it sounded so much like the blades of the Tarkatan... Gulping I turned to the right, surprised at what I found.

"Damn...why wont this come out." There stood Johnny Cage with a toaster in hand. He seemed to be having trouble with it.

"Um...need some help with that?" I asked quietly. He jerked his head to me, surprised.

"Hey there lil dudette. Uh...shouldn't you be in bed with the others right now- wait. I woke ya up didn't I?" Johnny groamed that last part out. I was actually staring at the bright, yellow flow coming from him and out the door. So that one's his huh. I'm beginning to get the hang of this.

"Oh no, don't worry about it. I'm nocturnal and I was kind of hungry anyways." As I said this I reached and grabbed the unplugged plugger. "Also I'm pretty sure this has to do with your little predicament." Woah, big fancy words there Charly.

"Oh man...I hope there's electricity around here..."

"I highly doubt that." After realizing what she said she continued, "Because...well from what I've seen this place looks really old fashion. It'd be a miracle if you could make this work." I grabbed the toaster to emphasize my point, but when I layed it back down on the wooden counter, it bursted to life spitting the bread out.

"Yes! I love you!" Hugging me til there wasn't air on my lungs he grabbed the two pieces while I turned the device over and over.

"But...it wasn't plugged anywhere." I said lifting the cable. Cage just shrugged putting tons of different types of food on the bread. Heh, I used to do that too.

"Say just asking but...weren't you a bit taller when you got here?" I shrugged yet taking notice that he was right. "So how did you hear me all the way from your room?" He asked right before stuffing his face with the make-shift sandwich.

"What do you mean? You were making a lot of noise you know." I raising an eyebrow at him.

"Uh...no I wasn't princess. You must have really sensitive ears because I barely made any noise. Considering that I usually make a lot more." At this I frowned.

"But I sware I heard...nevermind...and what's with everybody putting me nicknames?" I asked as I remembered he called me princess.

"Don't know but it fits ya. Ya know cuz you're smaller than the rest of us and look waaaay more delicate than other females in the house." At the end he chuckled. I think he was refering to Sonya, which made me smile knowing they had a love-hate relationship.

"Um...just out of curiosity...you wouldn't happen to know who's gonna be training us do you?" He looked like he was thinking for a few seconds before looking at me.

"I'm not supposed to tell you this but...we're debating on whether to switch every couple of days or give each of you two trainers instead of just one." He finished with his mouth full.

"What do you mean by switch?"

"You know...one day with Subs, another with me, another with Liu...so on." I made a small "oh" sound then asked again, "And if you don't do it like that...who will we be training with?" I asked looking him in the eyes.

"Well...geez I'm not supposed to be saying this...ah what the heck! The candidates for the positions are Liu Kang, Kenshi, Smoke, Ermac, Sub-Zero, Kung Lao, me and Scorpion." He counted them off with his fingers that had a yellow substance on them - from the smell I could tell it was mustard. Where the heck did he get that? And how come my nose is keen?

"Wow...and were gonna be causing all of you guys trouble?" I said looking to the side and rubbing behind my neck. Then I felt a heavy arm sneak over my shoulders casually.

"Hey! No worries dudette, seriously! You aren't any trouble at all!" He said, pausing and looking at me, "Though you're pretty small to be competing in the tournament." He said giving a slight snicker. I gave a pout at him but then laughed along with him. After that I spent about an hour talking with him - mostly about his acting career and life - I started yawning a lot and he noticed.

"Why don't you go to sleep? Who knows, maybe I'll get to train you." He winked at me playfully while I giggled and stumbled towards the room.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>Normal POV<span>_**

The next day the girls were rudely woken up by Scorpion. One by one they grumpily dragged their feet out of the room and into the living room. Once they were all in the room, they divided into four groups of three: the student and two teachers.

Claire had Kenshi and Liu Kang; Carmen was with Ermac and Smoke; Jennifer was along side Kung Lao and Cage; Charly -unfortunately - had the hard task to be the only barrier between the two major foes, Scorpion and Sub-Zero. She was excited because they were her favorite characters...but the bickering was driving her ears nuts. Ever since waking up she had been hearing everything outrageously loud, so even the smallest whisper could not escape her. Also the flowing water now had other friends; what looked like floating clay was beside the "water". Right now though, she was more focused on getting the two opposite ninjas to be quiet.

"You shouldn't have come if you didn't want to. Trust me it would had been a lot better for everyone." Sub-Zero said loudly, trying very hard not to scream at the spectre.

"Go to hell. This girls will never make it through alive anyways." Their voices weren't really loud enough to be annoying to anyone but to Charly they were unbearable.

"If you're going to be so negative then don't train her. Easy as that." Sub-Zero said more calmly now, which Charly appreciatebly smile to, until Scorpion opened his mouth.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!" Charly had had it.

"Ugh! God it's like being back with mom and dad! Sheesh! Aren't you two supposed to be highly trained ninjas?! Because you look like a bickering coulple!" She had no idea where all that had come from but she was too busy trying to block out all and absolutely all annoying sound.

Sub-Zero and Scorpion merely stared at the teenage girl who stumped off ahead of them trying to cover her small ears. Scorpion almost went after her, fisted hands at sides and deep growl in his throat, more than ready to murder her. Sub-Zero of course, stopped him. This nearly went to a deadly argument but the two ignored each other for the sake of it.

'Why did I do that? I never act like that!' Thought the confused brunette who waited for her two mentors to go ahead of her. She was currently leaning against a large tree. She could hear every crunch of dried leaves their boots would make, making her cring a bit. Fall had always been her favorite season, but she'd never realized how dry and crunchy the leaves really were. She was also confused as to why now she was seeing two colorful trails. She was beginning to think that they were like visual scents from different people...now she wasn't so sure.

Finally she heard the spectre and ice ninja approach her. Even their breathing and heart rate pattern couldn't sneak past Charly's ears. Sighing she tapped her foot impatiently. Usually she'd be the slow one but right now she felt much more hyper.

After the three emerged at a clearing the spread out into what looked like a perfect circle surrounded by pine trees that were rather large and tall. That - thankfully for Charly - created somewhat of a shade, depending on the sun's position.

_ 'Here goes nothing.' _Thought Charly as her "training" began.

* * *

><p>Claire stood to the side as she watched the blind swordsman and the shirtless man demonstrate the basic, fighting techniques. She had already memorized most of them and was growing very bored, very quickly. She wanted to punch something, not stand there watching them. For most of the time Liu Kang was quiet, while Kenshi seemed more approachable on a social level. He would answer all questions she had without losing patience. She hated to admit it, but she would rather be with Barbie then there. At least she wouldn't be growing so bored.<p>

"Can't we just start with the training already?" Kenshi looked at Liu Kang.

"We need to be sure that you know the essentials of fighting." Kenshi answered.

"Besides, it would be unwise to challenge either of us at the moment. Seeing as you don't seem to have much fighting experience." This had come from Liu Kang, the one who had been deadly quiet through the entire walk. Now Claire could feel anger building up inside of her. How would he know anything about her?!

"Just who the hell do you think you are?" Liu Kang seemed tense as he almost stepped forward, when Kenshi calmly put his arm in front of him.

"He did not mean to say you are incapacitated or-"

"Incapacitated?!" Now both warriors seemed to sweat drop as they sensed the hostility without cause coming from the tall teenage girl.

"No what he - I meant to say was that-"

"I don't care about who you are but you know nothing about me!" With that Claire huffed and crossed her arms, at an attempt to stop herself from going over to them and punching the two.

"This is going to be harder than I expected." Sighed Kenshi as he rubbed the back of his neck, thinking about what lay in store for both him and his fellow warrior.

* * *

><p>That's all folks!<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

**_Disclaimer: I only own the plot and my OCs Carmen, Charly, Claire and Jennifer._**

**No flames. Read & Review! **

* * *

><p><em>Chapter 5: The Results Aren't As Expected<em>

_Normal POV_

Silence was the only thing that filled the room. Not a heartbeat could be heard. Even when it was full of warriors such as the ones sitting inside. The day hadn't turned out to be what they had expected at all. Many confusions brought on irritation and uncertainty to the table.

"Claire simply would not follow through with the rules." Liu Kang had huffed out, obviously unhappy with his new 'student'. He tried his best to put up with her attitude and he did - this did not mean he was not bothered by it though.

"Jennifer is in good shape but she has problems memorizing all of the moves thoroughly." When Kung Lao mentioned this Johnny only grinned widely.

"With a teacher like me, what student wouldn't get distracted?" All he received was silence of course, which had him rolling his eyes at the lack of humor from his fellow warriors. He was probably the only normal person in here - so to speak.

"Carmen was very attentive and memorized everything we taught her...it just doesn't seem that the fighting style we are teaching her is quite the one she can master." Ermac had quietly said, Smoke only nodding to show his approval of the critique.

"Charly may have had very good reflexes -"

"- but she definitely has no previous training nor experience in fighting whatsoever. Not to mention that she needs to build up much more strength if she wishes to even carry her own weight." Sub-Zero visibly glared at Scorpion for the rude interruption. The specter merely ignored him as he glared at a spot on the floor - it made you wonder; if he stared hard enough, would it be set on fire like he did with everything else? After that, everybody stayed silent, every head in the room trying to figure out what to do about the obviously intruding predicament.

"Well it's obvious that having two teachers at a time is the main problem." When every pair of eyes turned to look at Cage with looks of incredulity mostly, he explained further. "Well...we all have different ways of fighting. Imposing two different ones at the same time to girls that have never seen a single one is a bit harsh. Plus, some of us don't really make a great team." He muttered the last part as looked pointedly at Scorpion and Sub-Zero. "Who's bright idea was it to put Subs and Scorpion together anyways?" Unknown to the rest Kung Lao actually nodded his head at this, obviously knowing that the two ninjas clashed dangerously with each other.

"I think...maybe we should just let one of us train each - instead of two. The rest can go on to their normal duties unless called if anything happens. I mean, calling all of us at the same time is pretty exaggerated even with the upcoming tournament - we're all gonna fight anyways!" To say that surprise filled the room was an understatement. Nobody had really expected the first idea to come from the superstar.

"I believe...Cage does have a point." Sub-Zero carefully agreed, seeming slightly stiff for some reason.

"Yes, we agree that it is an adequate plan." Ermac said nodding his head. Soon everybody else had agreed to the plan.

"Okay...so now the hard part comes...who's gonna train who?" Johnny asked as he leaned back, looking at everybody. His job was done. Broke the ice. Gave the initiative. Now it was their turn to think.

"We should pair everyone up according to the necessity of each of the girls. Simple." Liu Kang offered, sitting still in the same position. What came next was a big debate about this. Seeing as some didn't want anything to do with the task and some were trying to impose themselves too greatly. They didn't notice, but three heads were poking through one of the doors in the hall that was close to the one they resided on.

"Charly, what are they saying?" Jennifer whispered hurriedly, only getting batted away by the girl at question.

"Shhh! I'm trying to hear! They're all talking at the same time!" She said as she strained her already keen ears to listen better. She had told the other three girls about the strange changes she had been going through - apparently she wasn't the only one.

* * *

><p>...<p>

_"Wait...let me get this straight: You are hearing abnormally well, smelling abnormally well and you're seeing strange uh...-" _

_"Lines. Well, I'm thinking they're more of like...scents - but materialized. You know like...being able to literally see a person's scent. Like a tracker." Carmen_ _nodded, deep in thought. _

_"Okay...that's...a little weird." _

_"A little? Are you sure you're not just hallucinating or something?" Asked Claire from a corner in the room where she sat with her arms crossed. _

_"Hey, we're in a video game and you think seeing colorful lines is insane?" Charly defended herself. Jennifer had been oddly quiet during the entire ordeal in which Charly explained everything. _

_"I...I believe you Charly." Said girl turned, surprised to hear the older girl call her by her actual nickname and the fact that she was saying she indeed believed her. _

_"You do?" Carmen, Claire and Charly all said at the same time, then looked at each other with confused expressions. _

_"Yeah...you see..." Jennifer started rubbing behind her neck, much like Charly did all of the time when she got nervous. "It's been happening to me too." Charley's eyes widened before she scooted closer to her._

_"You have? Everything?" She asked, hope filling her jovial voice. _

_"Well, not exactly." Charly dropped her arms, which had been in front on her, in disappointment before Jennifer raised hers, "No, no! I mean, strange things have been happening to me too, just not what has been happening to you." _

_"Really? What then?" Charly scooted closer, eyes focuses completely on her. Jennifer gulped and fiddled with her hands._

_"At night...this...purplish, blue smoke started covering me and the entire room. I freaked out and ran outside. When I did, outside...I destroyed a tree." Three pairs of eyes blinked at her explanation. _

_"Umm...I don't get it. You...blew it up or-?" Charly started, trying to get more information out of her. _

_"I touched it and it started shaking before it just disintegrated into nothing!" She yelled, getting fed up by everything that had happened. _

_"Wow...so you just...touched it? That's it?" Jennifer nodded sadly at Charly. Said girl could easily see what was bothering her. If she had managed to cause such a thing to a tree with just a touch, imagine what it would do to a human being. Then Charly did something nobody in the room had expected. She leaned forward and laid her hand on her shoulder. "Hey...don't worry, we'll figure something out." Jennifer looked up, though she didn't show it, her eyes spoke to Charly all of the thankful remarks she actually wanted to say. _

_"Wait a second...wouldn't that mean that if you touched a person-" Before Claire could continue by stating the obvious, Charly stood quickly. _

_"Okay! How about if we go outside and test out our...our...Carmen?" She turned to said girl, asking for help with the correct word. _

_"Uh...abilities?" She found the softest word she could find._

_"Yeah! Our abilities! Come on Jenny!" Jennifer was led out by an ecstatic looking, young teenage girl - she just couldn't believe Charly had just called her by a nickname and was tugging her forwards like a little kid on Christmas morning. _

_..._

* * *

><p>"- what are you doing?" The three heads shot up to see...<p>

"It was her idea!" The three girls yelled at the same time, pointing at each other as Sonya stood there staring down at them. Charly pointed at Claire, Claire pointed at Jennifer, and Jennifer pointed at Charly. Sonya stared. They stared back.

Sigh. "What did you hear?" Sonya asked them as she put her hands to her hips.

"Nothing!" They all said hurriedly at the same time, Charly slipping and falling out of the room altogether.

"Hey!"

"Wasn't me." Jennifer quickly put her hands up in defense of herself. Charly glared at Claire from the floor before a boot stood before her. She grinned nervously and scrambled to stand up.

"So if you heard everything then you know already who you will be training with, am I right?" Three heads turned to Charly, who instantly felt flushed at the fact that she was the one with the better hearing, yet had gotten distracted and hadn't heard a thing.

"Um, no, not really, no." With that the four girls were brought to the room where now only four people remained. It seemed as if the entire household or wherever they were at had been drained of people in a matter of seconds. The ones standing before them were: Scorpion, Kenshi, Ermac and Sub-Zero. 'I don't like the looks of this.' Charly thought, eyebrows furrowing as she tried to decipher who would be with who. It was hard. The critics she heard were of no help to this either.

"Come with me." Kenshi motioned to Jennifer as he walked to another part of the house. Jennifer looked at the other three girls, unsure as to whether she should follow him or not. A nod from Charly was enough to encourage her as she made her way through a door and disappeared into a hall. The next one was Claire, who apparently would be training with Ermac - a bit of surprise made itself evident on the three remaining girls' faces. Charly seemed wary as she stared at the two remaining warriors. 'Why is it that I get the feeling that this won't end too well for me?' She thought, biting the inside of her left cheek.

When Sub-Zero motioned towards Carmen and walked off, Charly knew that her prediction had been more than correct. (1)'Ay mal rayo parta...' She thought as Scorpion merely glared at her small form before storming off through the front door.

* * *

><p><em>Translations:<em>

_(1) It's just like a low level curse Hispanics like to say a lot *cough* I do it *cough*. Basically in a translated version into English it would be: 'May a lightning hit me!'._

_PS. I'm sorry I did not review in so long._

_**R&R! **_

**=^.^=**


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